Loose Impediments

Be sure you know what objects are defined as loose impediments - the rules are very precise, and a slight misinterpretation could deny you relief or lead to a needless penalty.

The rules define loose impediments as natural objects such as stones, leaves, twigs, fallen branches and the like. They also include animal droppings, worms and insects and the casts or heaps they make. Loose impediments cannot be fixed or growing, or solidly embedded in the ground, and must not stick to the ball like, say, mud.

You may treat snow and ice as either casual water or loose impediments - the choice is yours. Treated as casual water, you can lift your ball and drop it within a club length of the nearest point of relief without penalty. Alternatively, remove the loose impediment of ice or snow, making sure that your ball does not move.

Remember that if you are playing under winter rules when you encounter snow or ice, you will be able to lift and clean your ball without penalty. What about sand and loose soil? These are classed as loose impediments only on the green - you may remove them from the line of your putt. Elsewhere on the course you must play the ball as it lies. You may not remove sand or soil when a ball is in motion even on the green.

Dew is not a loose impediment. Those players you may see removing dew from the line of a putt are breaking the rules.

Claiming relief
Except in a hazard, any loose impediment may be removed without penalty. But you must make sure that your ball does not move. If it does, you incur a penalty stroke. If it moves after you, your caddie or your partner has removed a loose impediment within a club length of your ball - even though you have not addressed it - you incur a penalty stroke.

It is up to you to be careful when removing twigs, leaves and other loose impediments. If you think there is any chance of your ball moving, it's normally better not to take the risk and simply play the ball as it lies. If the ball does move in these circumstances, don't forget to replace it before you play the shot.

The only exception to this rule comes on the putting green. There, if your ball moves in the process of removing a loose impediment, you replace the ball without penalty.

There is no relief from loose impediments in a hazard. It is all too easy to forget this, and remove a leaf or twig from the top of your ball when it is lying in a bunker. You incur a 1 stroke penalty.